Soma: The Art & Science of Somatic Living explores life through the intelligence of the body.
Each episode examines human experience from a biological and nervous system perspective, how we perceive, react, learn, and change.
Rather than ideas or beliefs, these conversations focus on direct observation: what is happening in the body, how it shapes our identity, and how awareness of these processes can lead to real transformation.
Through dialogue with Dr. Jivasu, this podcast brings a clear, grounded understanding of life as it is lived, within the body itself.
Visit: www.somapath.org
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Death Is Not the Absence of Life — It's Its Own Presence
Season 9 · Episode 5
Monday, June 8, 2026 • Duration 42:31
Dr. Jivasu walks through the central problem of being human: that we're the only animals self-aware enough to know we will die — and the only ones unable to accept it. Plants and animals don't carry death anxiety because they don't carry an autobiographical self. We do. From age 2 or 3, the brain begins building a shield to keep us from feeling the reality of what's coming. This episode is about that shield. Why we built it. What it costs us. And what Soma does about it.UPCOMING WORKSHOP WITH DR. JIVASU"Understanding Death to Live Fully" — Begins July 11, 2026Register: https://www.somapath.org/service-page/understanding-death-to-live-fully?referral=service_list_widgetJivasu distinguishes two kinds of immortality: the symbolic kind we chase through children, monuments, religion, art, and wealth — and what he calls true immortality, the leap beyond time itself. He shows how the modern consumer cycle is symbolic immortality dressed in shopping bags, and why this drive to grab and possess life is the engine behind the ecological crisis. Then he lays out the Soma method: not intellectualizing death but feeling it directly. Contemplating it. Sitting in cremation grounds. Attending the dying. Cracking the shield deliberately until the mini somatic crisis arrives, deepens into the full somatic crisis, and finally fractures into the naked duality — life and death facing each other without any escape mechanism left.What emerges on the other side is what Soma calls the somatic self — the background of life resetting from fear and survival into essential well-being. Death itself becomes a presence, not an absence. Jivasu shares his own arc: an earthquake at age 10 that cracked his shield early, PTSD through medical school, MD in pediatrics, the years at Sri Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh, and the moment a few months ago when death finally became a beloved presence rather than a terror. He references Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death as the most accurate diagnosis of the human condition he's ever read — and explains what Becker didn't include: the way through.What you'll learn in this episode:Why animals don't fear death, and why the autobiographical self is the reason we doThe actual content of the fear — not biological death, but the death of the "I"The two kinds of immortality: symbolic (in time) and true (beyond time)How materialist consumerism is a death-anxiety coping mechanism — and why it drives ecological collapseThe Soma practices for feeling death directly: corpse practice, cremation grounds, sitting with the dying, planning your own funeralThe mini somatic crisis, the full somatic crisis, and the naked dualityThe somatic self — what emerges on the other sideDr. Jivasu's personal arc from age 10 to age 40 to nowThe ancient instruction every tradition delivers: die before you dieAbout Jivasu:Dr. Jivasu is the founder of Soma Path and the lead teacher of the Somatic Yoga Teacher Training. His work brings classical yoga teaching into direct contact with neurobiology and somatic education through Soma — a framework built for adults who want the depth of the original lineage without the mysticism.🩺 About Soma PathSoma Path is a body- and science-based path to embodied transformation, integrating modern neuroscience with classical contemplative traditions. Led by Dr. Jivasu — a physician and somatic teacher — it offers depth without asking you to leave the modern world behind.🧘 Free Monthly Somatic Meditation (live): https://www.somapath.org/service-page/soma-meditation-listening-within?referral=service_list_widget🎓 Somatic Yoga Teacher Training: https://www.somapath.org/online-somatic-yoga-teacher-training🎧 Listen — ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SomawithJivasu🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0laJc85nHxYzgYyFEK1OfO🍎 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/soma-the-art-and-science-of-somatic-living/id1547156988
Anger is a Beautiful Emotion
Season 9 · Episode 4
Monday, May 25, 2026 • Duration 37:44
Anger isn't the problem. Accumulation is.
Dr. Jivasu walks through the neurobiology of anger as a healthy, protective, primary emotion — and explains why what we call "anger problems" are almost always accumulated anger being projected onto the wrong moment.
He lays out the five-step Soma method for working with anger directly: feeling it, understanding it, expressing it safely, channeling it into creativity, and finally catching it at the level of pure energy before it becomes a pattern. Plus a personal story from Matt about the moment a jar of mayonnaise on a toe taught him more about reactivity than years of practice.
What you'll learn in this episode:
Why anger is one of six biological primary emotions found in every culture — and what nature designed it for
Explore how Soma works through the body → https://www.somapath.org
Chapters:
00:00 - Start
00:40 - The current state of fear and anger in the world
01:24 - Anger is a healthy, biological emotion
02:01 - The protective purpose of anger
03:25 - The six primary emotions
04:28 - Why anger becomes a problem: accumulation
05:55 - Accumulated anger becomes violence
06:55 - How every accumulated emotion transforms (anxiety, depression, mania, hatred, shock)
08:09 - Cultural conditioning: why we’re told to suppress
09:53 - Family conditioning and inherited anger
What Is Missing From Yoga?
Season 9 · Episode 3
Monday, May 11, 2026 • Duration 34:37
Why your yoga practice isn't transforming you — and what would actually have to change for it to work.
Dr. Jivasu walks through the neurobiology behind why an hour of yoga or meditation a day produces real but temporary effects, why the original yogis required 24-hour devotion to reach liberation, and the two specific Soma methods that turn ordinary modern life into the practice itself. If you've ever wondered why the peace from your morning practice evaporates by lunchtime, this episode answers it.
Chapters:
00:37 — Can yoga twice a week actually liberate you?
02:33 — Why modern practice can only borrow part of the original tradition
03:37 — The 10,000-hour rule and biological anchoring
04:25 — Inner psychedelics: why the change wears off
05:53 — Even a daily morning practice isn't enough — and why
07:07 — What modern practitioners are missing that ancient ones had
08:07 — The real meaning of yoga: linking practice to life
08:37 — Passion: when your energy is divided into a hundred streams
10:27 — The default mode network and constant distraction
11:19 — Flow state, transient hypofrontality, and why high performers transform
13:29 — Karma at every scale — personal, ancestral, universal
15:34 — When passion has to become obsession
18:42 — The parable of King Janak and the oil lamp
22:51 — Two birds on a tree: the witness consciousness
24:27 — Interoception: the 8th sense, and how to train it
27:44 — Somatic personality and 24-hour self-care
30:09 — Where physical yoga and meditation actually fit in
Life Is A Mirror
Season 9 · Episode 2
Monday, April 27, 2026 • Duration 39:33
Most people think life is happening to them.
But what if everything you experience… is reflecting something back to you?
In this episode of Soma: The Art & Science of Living, we explore the idea that life is not random—it is relational. Every thought, emotion, and reaction is shaped through interaction with others.
Life Is a Mirror: Why Everything You Experience Reflects You
And through that mirror, we come to know ourselves.
This conversation breaks down:
• What life actually is (beyond philosophy and belief)
• Why you cannot define yourself without others
• How emotions like anger and frustration are shaped through relationships
• Why most of your reactions come from your past—not the present
• How the subconscious controls your life (and how to become aware of it)
• Why relationships are the most powerful tool for self-understanding
• What it means to develop a healthy identity through the body
• How awareness transforms reaction into insight
This is not about fixing others.
It’s about learning to see clearly.
🔗 Explore Soma Path
You Don’t Need to Escape Life to Transform
Season 9 · Episode 1
Monday, April 13, 2026 • Duration 24:44
Most approaches to growth tell you to step away from life.
Withdraw. Simplify. Renounce.
But what if transformation doesn’t require leaving anything behind?
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:10 The problem with modern materialism
04:30 Why traditional systems are losing relevance
07:00 The body as the entry point
10:00 Transformation in daily life
13:00 Is there an end point?
In this first episode of Soma: The Art & Science of Living, we explore a different entry point — one grounded in the body, in biology, and in the reality of modern life.
We look at why traditional systems are becoming less relevant in today’s world, and how scientific and economic materialism have shaped the way we think, live, and pursue fulfillment.
Instead of rejecting this reality, Soma works through it.
This conversation breaks down:
• Why chasing more never leads to lasting fulfillment
• The difference between external success and internal access
• How the body becomes the gateway to awareness and transformation
• Why you don’t need to escape your life to reach your potential
S8.Ep.7- Science of Transformation
Season 8 · Episode 7
Thursday, August 1, 2024 • Duration 01:00:32
Wisdom and Knowledge
S8.Ep.6- Science of Transformation
Season 8 · Episode 6
Sunday, July 7, 2024 • Duration 01:07:59
The most important path to transformation is awakening our eight sense (Interoception) and feeling the life force within the body.
S8.Ep.5-Science of Transformation
Season 8 · Episode 5
Tuesday, June 25, 2024 • Duration 01:21:31
Jivasu's Presentation from Unity Conference-
How love can become the catalyst for transformation.
S8.Ep.4-Science of Transformation
Season 8 · Episode 4
Monday, June 24, 2024 • Duration 01:25:49
Mira's Presentation from Unity Conference-
Biology of Trauma and Transformation. How to use trauma and transform it from a curse to a blessing.
S8.Ep.3 - Science of Transformation
Season 3 · Episode 8
Saturday, June 22, 2024 • Duration 01:06:56
Cultivating Healthy Identity and Understanding My Own Powers.
10:19 - Ancestral anger across generations
11:42 - Projection: how accumulated anger becomes violence
13:11 - Why we explode at home
14:50 - The 5-step Soma method
15:28 - Step 1: Feel the anger
16:53 - Step 2: Understand the cause
19:28 - Step 3: Express and resolve safely
20:16 - Step 4: Channel anger into creative power
21:13 - Gandhi, Lincoln, Mandela: anger as the engine of every revolution
23:33 - Creativity as action, not just art
24:45 - Matt’s mayonnaise story: the moment of awareness
28:24 - Why we react more when tired and stressed
29:33 - Step 5: Emotional wisdom — catching anger at the level of energy
31:08 - Nipping anger in the bud
32:04 - The somatic self: energy unified into a single river
33:22 - Accumulated anger and chronic illness
34:30 - Anger is nothing else but energy
35:49 - Becoming the compassionate, loving mother
36:27 - Fire personality: the link between anger and passion
37:17 - Closing: anger as the peak of life
🩺 About Soma PathSoma Path is a body- and science-based path to embodied transformation, integrating modern neuroscience with classical contemplative traditions. Led by Dr. Jivasu — a physician and somatic teacher — it offers depth without asking you to leave the modern world behind.
Have you ever felt you had to choose between living fully in the modern world and seeking something deeper? What would change if the two weren't opposed?
Share your thoughts below.
32:06 — Why we want liberation in the first place — the impulse of life
What you'll learn in this episode:
Why short practices release "inner psychedelics" but don't create lasting anatomical change in the brain
The 10,000-hour threshold for biological anchoring, and what it means for serious practitioners
How the default mode network and flow state research from Steve Kotler's Rise of Superman explain why most practice fails to integrate
The two-part method — passion and obsession — that the original yoga texts called the difference between routine and transformation
Interoception, the "8th sense," and how somatic awareness becomes a 24-hour practice
The classical parable of King Janak and the oil lamp — and why it's the Soma model for living an ordinary life with extraordinary attention
About Jivasu:
Jivasu is a physician, author, and the founder of Soma Path. Soma Path is rooted in the body and grounded in science to awaken the body’s wisdom for trauma healing and transformation. It is accessible to people of all ages, abilities, and beliefs.
Jivasu, with his wife, Karen, spent many years volunteering as a doctor at the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh and in the Garhwal Himalayas. Later, he studied acupuncture and Mind-Body Medicine at Harvard.
Over four decades, he taught acupuncture, mind-body medicine, yoga, and meditation programs worldwide.
